Galatasaray took a step closer to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague by opening the qualifying rounds with a commanding 64-77 victory over PAOK on Friday in Vilnius, Lithuania. Galatasaray will play the winner of the French showdown between Asvel and Gravelines later on Friday in the weekend semifinal less than 24 hours later. Jamon Lucas scored 18 of his 21 points after halftime to lead the winners. Luksa Andric added 15 and Ender Arslan 14, while youngster Furkan Aldemir debuted with 11 points and 9 rebounds in 19 minutes. Arslan's three-pointers to end the first half and start the second proved important, as PAOK never led after that. PAOK got 17 points from Marcus Goree, 16 from Ioannis Kalampokis, 11 from Rashad Wright and 10 from Dimos Dikoudis, but was hurt by 18 turnovers. After the loss, PAOK will now play in the 2011-12 Eurocup starting in November.

Andric scored inside before his steal led to a fastbreak layup by Shipp and a 0-4 lead for Galatasaray, which pressured the ball to no avail, as the recently-arrived Goree quickly tied for PAOK. Dikoudis raced coast to coast for PAOK's first lead, 6-4. Galatasaray soon got it back, however, as Jaka Lakovic hit technical free throws charged to Dikoudis. Galatasaray threatened to run away at 6-11, but after a timeout, PAOK got back-to-back triples by Wright and Goree. PAOK's run ended at 10-1 for a 16-12 lead when Tutku Acik pumped from downtown for Galatasaray. Goree's free throws, giving him 9 points already, left PAOK up 18-15 after 10 minutes.

Galatasaray struck back quickly, scoring the second quarter's first 6 points between Aldemir and Preston Shumpert to lead 18-21. Goree re-started PAOK's offense with a long two-pointer then detonated a huge go-ahead dunk on a great feed from Wright. Back and forth they went, with Lucas reclaiming the lead for Galatasaray, as Niko Kalles did for PAOK. Andric scored 8 points in a row for Galatasaray that Kalampokis and Dikoudis answered with twin triples. But a turnover with 3.6 seconds left allowed Acik and Ender Arslan to execute a great play for a buzzer-beating triple that gave Galatasaray a 32-34 halftime lead.

Arslan started the second half as he ended the first, drilling from long range, and with Darius Songaila's jump hook, Galatasaray suddenly led 34-39. Wright scored a third-chance basket to get PAOK closer before Arslan shot off one foot in response. The lead was 38-43 before Dante Stiggers cut it with a smooth triple, but Aldemir matched it with a rolling basket-plus-free throw. Soon, Galatasaray's lead was up to 43-50 on free throws by Songaila as PAOK looked a step behind. Arslan boosted the lead into double digits, 43-54, with 4 perfect free throws before Kalampokis answered with a straight-on three-pointer, which he repeated to end the third quarter, but it was only enough to cut Galatasaray's lead to 51-60.

Galatasaray came out strong with consecutive baskets by Lucas to boost the gap to 53-64. Goree cut into that difference with a short shot, but Lucas kept his team rolling with a three-point shot now. Even when Dikoudis matched that with a put-back and free throw, time was running short on PAOK, down 56-67 with under 6 minutes left. And when Gordon scored acrobatically between two defenders, Galatasaray seemed blessed. Kalampokis got 3 points back from the corner for PAOK, but Lucas was unstoppable and assured his team would move a step forward in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds.

Head Coaches

MARKOPOULOS, SOULIS

PAOK BC

"We were simply not ready. It's only the beginning of the season. Four of our players just joined the team, some of them 48 hours before this game. Still, I think we played very well in the first half. Unfortunately, we couldn't continue doing that later. It's true we got tired in the second half and turned the ball over much too often, especially our playmaker Rashad Wright. Besides, Galatasaray managed to convert a lot of easy baskets inside the paint."

MAHMUTI, OKTAY

Galatasaray

"It was a tough game, especially the start of it, so obviously I'm satisfied with this win. The first half was even but we intensified our defense after the halftime break and managed to widen the gap. It wasn't easy because PAOK is a good team, but, of course, nobody really expects easy games at this level. We won in the end and that's what matters."

Players

ANDRIC, LUKSA

Galatasaray

"Defense is always the key to a win. We played good defense and even when they made some tough shots, we knew that if we kept playing good defense, our second half would be much better. This is the first win of the three we need to get to the Euroleague. I expect tomorrow's game to be much harder but we will get ready and try to win."